dollar store

A small-footprint retailer offering a wide variety of merchandise but a limited number of stock keeping units (SKUs) in each. The name comes from the practice of selling all merchandise at $1 or less, although few chains actually adhere to it. Once viewed with disdain by product manufacturers as a place for diverted or damaged product, the channel has produced two significant players -- Dollar General and Family Dollar -- whose size and increasing sophistication have made them key accounts for a number of consumer packaged goods (CPGs).